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By Jaclyn Luscomb
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, March 24. THE final night of competition at the NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships finished with plenty of excitement. The night concluded with four new NCAA Division III records for a total of 13 new NCAA Division III records this week.
Final team standings:
Men
Denison University took home the NCAA Division III Championship title for the second year in a row with 600 points, Kenyon College finished second with 519 and Emory University finished third with 342 points. Denison ended Kenyon's 31 year reign with a one-point victory last year.
Women
Emory University earned the title for the third year in a row with 639 points, Willams College swam strong into second place with 453 points and Denison University rounded out the three with 420 points.
Denison sophomore Allen Weik started the night right, invigorating the audience with a top finish in the men's 1650 yard freestyle. Weik, who was defending champion in this event and Thursday night's 500-yard-freestyle champion, won in a time of 15:04.85, setting a new NCAA Division III record in the event. He downed his own standing record (15:04.85) from 2011. Drew Ledwith, a sophomore out of Keene St. College, finished second with a time of 15:18.70 and Wesley Elford, a freshman representing Stevens Institute of Technology, placed third in the event with a time of 15:26.79.
Williams junior Caroline Wilson once again gave the crowd a thrill winning the 1650 free for the women in a time of 16:40.42. Wilson was also your victor in the women's 400-yard IM and 500-yard freestyle. Hillary Callen of Denison wasn't far behind Wilson finishing in a time of 16:42.61. Callen trailed Wilson by 10 seconds at the 1350 mark and just missed passing her for the win. Sarah Thompson, a freshman and Wilson's teammate from Williams College placed third with a time of 16:47.44. Thompson was the champion in the 200-yard-freestyle as well.
The men's 100-yard-freestyle proved to be an outstanding race for Kenyon College as four of the top five finishers represented Kenyon, and collectively made up the 400-yard freestyle relay for the college. Zachary Turk, winner of the 50-yard freestyle won the 100 as well finishing in a time of 43.16. This is a new NCAA DIII record breaking his prelim mark of 43.18. The previous record has been from 2009 set by Caleb Courage out of Grove City (43.60). Second place went to senior David Somers (43.80) and Curtis Ramsey placed third with a time of 44.55. All top three finishers represented Kenyon.
On the women's side for the 100-yard-freestyle your 2012 champion is Christie Raleigh, a junior from Rowan University, winning with a time of 49.94. Springfield's Kellie Pennington, winner of the 50 freestyle, took second with a time of 50.33. Anna Dobben, a junior from Emory University, placed third (50.52).
Robert Barry, a senior from Denison University, won the 200 backstroke in the same fashion as he won the 100 backstroke last night — with a new NCAA DIII record. He finished with a time of 1:46.23, just under the old record (1:46.30) set in 2011 by his teammate Quinn Bartlett. Vladislav Romanov, a senior from Stanton Island, finished second (1:46.79) and Michael Brus, a sophomore from Grinnel College, placed third with a time of 1:46.92.
For the women, Sadie Nenning, a senior from Emory, touched out her opponents for the win in a time of 1:58.86. Close behind her with a second place finish was Denison Senior Emily Schroder, with a time of 1:58.98. Third place finisher, Maggie Rosenbaum, a sophomore representing Hamilton, placed third with a two-second drop from prelims in a time of 1:59.26. Last night's article listed Rosenbaum has a senior, however she still has two promising seasons ahead of her.
The men's 200-yard-breatstroke champion, Rory Buck, represents Whitworth University as a senior and won in a time of 1:59.27. Buck also won the 100-yard-breaststroke last night. Paul Dyrkacz, a junior from Willams College, finished second with (1:59.95). Drykacz won the 400-yard IM earlier in the week. Ian Bakk, a senior from Kenyon, touched third with a time of 2:00.44.
The women's 200-yard breaststroke title went to Stevens freshman Brittney Geyer. Geyer finished first with a time of 2:15.55. Caitlyn Lehberger, a senior from Westmister, placed second in the 200 (2:19.02) as well as the 100. Nicole Kett, a Kenyon senior, finished third (2:16.59).
The 400-yard freestyle relays ended the meet with the crowd roaring as the Kenyon College team of David Somers, Zachary Turk, Curtis Ramsey and Ian Richardson smashed the existing NCAA DIII record time of 2:55.56 set by the 2010 Kenyon team with a jaw-dropping 2:53.59. Turk had a sterling split of 42.53. Denison touched second (2:58.48) and John Hopkins finished third with a time of 2:58.67.
For the women, the Emory team of Renee Rosenkranz, Anna Dobben, Nancy Larson and Claire Pavlak touched first with a time of 3:22.02. Williams College placed second, close behind at 3:22.71. Denison University placed third in 3:24.39.
The top three finishers in the women's three-meter diving were Ruth Hahn, a junior out of TRIN with 481 points, Sarah Ficarro of FRED with 467.65 points and Danica Roskos of TCNJ close behind with 467.10 points.
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